Paint Brush

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an improved paint brush which can be attached to the perimeter portion of a paint can opening such that the bristles of the brush are oriented into the paint can at an angle of between 0° and 90° from the vertical. The perimeter of this paint can has an upwardly extending rim having upper and lower ends, while the paint brush has a mid portion connecting a handle to a set of bristles. A notch is provided on a side of the mid portion between the handle and the set of bristles for attaching the brush to the arc of the can, the notch defined by an upper lip oriented towards the handle, a lower lip oriented towards the set of bristles and an opening separating the upper and lower lips. The opening, upper lip and lower lip are all dimensioned such that when the brush is attached to the perimeter, the perimeter bears against the notch at a point adjacent the upper lip while the lower lip bears against the perimeter sufficiently to position the brush at an angle from the vertical of less than 90°.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to paint brushes for applying paint to awall or surface, and more particularly to a paint brush having a featurefor permitting the brush to be hung on a paint can.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the interval of time between the period that a painter is not using apaint brush, it is customary for him to place the brush on the can whichcontains the paint. The painter does so because the paint can is a handyplace to place the brush at such times and because it is not harmed bypaint which might dribble onto it. The problem with using a paint canfor this purpose however is that paint can run from the can onto asurface on which it rests. Furthermore, a brush can be too easilyknocked off a paint can by a painter's carelessness.

It is known to provide paint brushes with hangers or other means tofacilitate the attachment of the brush to a paint can. Examples of suchattachment means are described in 115. U.S. Pat. No. 2,309,990 to Savi,U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,919 to MacDonald, U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,327 toMeimeteas and U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,559 B 1 to Stanton. The attachmentmeans described in these patents are suitable for attaching a paintbrush to a paint can so that the brush does not easily fall off of thecan but they do have a number of shortcomings, one of which is that theyproject outwardly from the paint brushes and can be a nuisance to apainter when he is painting in confined spaces. As well the projectingattachment means are easily damaged and, once damaged, are not reliablefor attaching a paint brush to a can. A still further shortcoming ofsome of the above mentioned attachment means is that the paint brush issuspended outside the paint can, where paint on the brush can fall ontosurfaces beneath the paint can.

I have invented a paint brush and a clip for a paint brush that havenone of the shortcomings mentioned above. Specifically, the means bywhich the brush is attached to a paint can does not project outwardlyfrom the brush when the brush is in use and, as a result, the attachmentmeans does not interfere with the painter's use of the brush.Furthermore, the attachment means is not as susceptible to breakage asprojecting attachment means such as those mentioned above. In addition,my attachment means suspends a paint brush over the mouth of a can ofpaint so that any paint that falls from the brush falls into the can andnot outside it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an improved paint brush which can be attached to the perimeterportion of a paint can opening such that the bristles of the brush areoriented into the paint can at an angle of less than 90°. The perimeterof this paint can has an upwardly extending rim having upper and lowerends, while the paint brush has a mid portion connecting a handle to aset of bristles. A notch is provided on a side of the mid portionbetween the handle and the set of bristles for attaching the brush tothe arc of the can, the notch defined by an upper lip oriented towardsthe handle, a lower lip oriented towards the set of bristles and anopening separating the upper and lower lips. The opening, upper lip andlower lip are all dimensioned such that when the brush is attached tothe perimeter, the perimeter bears against the notch at a point adjacentthe upper lip while the lower lip bears against the perimetersufficiently to position the brush at an angle from the vertical of lessthan 90°.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a paint brush for use with a paint can having an openingcircumscribed by an upwardly extending rim having upper and lower ends.The paint brush includes a ferrule connecting a handle to a set ofbristles and a notch formed on a side of the ferrule between the handleand the set of bristles. The notch is defined by an upper lip formed onthe ferrule towards the handle, a lower lip formed on the ferruletowards the set of bristles, an opening separating the upper and lowerlips and a back wall formed on the ferrule and separated from theopening by a depth. The notch is dimensioned to permit the paint brushto be hung from the rim of the paint can by passing the upper end of therim through the opening, the opening, depth, upper lip and lower lip allbeing dimensioned to hold the upper end of the rim within the notchwhile the lower lip of the ferrule bears against the rim at a point onthe rim between the upper and lower ends when the paint brush is hungfrom the rim.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a paint brush for use with a paint can having an openingcircumscribed by an upwardly extending rim having upper and lower ends.The paint brush includes a ferrule connecting a handle to a set ofbristles and a notch formed on a side of the ferrule between the handleand the set of bristles. The notch is defined by an upper lip formed onthe ferrule towards the handle, a lower lip formed on the ferruletowards the set of bristles, and an opening separating the upper andlower lips. The notch is dimensioned to permit the paint brush to behung from the rim of the paint can by passing the upper end of the rimthrough the opening, the upper lip being angled and dimensioned to holdthe upper end of the rim within the notch when the paint brush is hungfrom the rim, the opening being dimensioned to position the lower lip ofthe notch at a point on the rim between the upper and lower ends whenthe paint brush is hung from the rim.

With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparentto those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as thisspecification proceeds, the invention is herein described by referenceto the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes adescription of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paint brush made in accordance withthe present invention mounted to the rim of a standard paint can.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the paint brush shown in FIG. 1 showingthe notched ferrule.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of portion A of FIG. 1 showing thepaint brush mounted to the inner lip of the paint can rim.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the notched portion of a paint brushmade in accordance with the invention mounted to the rim of a paint can.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the notched portion of a paint brushmade in accordance with another aspect of the invention mounted to therim of a paint can.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a paint brushmade in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the notched portion of a paint brushmade in accordance with another aspect of the present invention mountedto the rim of a paint can.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring firstly to FIG. 1, a paint brush made in accordance with thepresent invention is shown generally as item 10 and includes a handleportion 14, bristle portion 16 and middle (or mid) portion 18. Handleportion 14 and bristle portion 16 are identical to handle and bristleportions of standard paint brushes. In particular, bristle portion 16may consist of a quantity of natural or artificial bristles bundledtogether and oriented such that the bristles can hold a quantity ofpaint (or stain) and can spread that paint over a surface when the paintbrush is used. Alternatively, bristle portion 16 may consist of a foampad which is configured to hold a quantity of paint or stain. Midportion 18 may consist of an extension of handle portion 14 or it mayconsist of a stamped metal ferrule which binds bristle portion 16 tohandle 14, depending on how brush 10 is made. If brush 10 is made in amanner similar to standard bristle paint brushes, then mid portion 18will preferably consist of a metal ferrule. Mid portion 18 will haveside portion 21 upon which a notch 22 is formed. Notch 22 is dimensionedand configured to couple to perimeter 20 of paint can 12 such that brush10 is firmly secured to the rim and is held at an acute angle from thevertical (i.e. between 90° and 0° from vertical), with the bristleportion 16 pointed towards the interior of the paint can.

Paint can 20 is a standard paint can (either 1 gallon or 1 pint) whichhas an opening 19 which is circumscribed by a perimeter (or mouth) 20which has an inner rim 34 and an outer rim 42 and a transverse portion38 (see FIG. 3). Notch 22 is configured to couple to perimeter 20(either at lip 34 alone or rim 42 and rim 34 together) so as to hold thepaint brush at an angle from the vertical as illustrated.

Referring now to FIG. 2, notch 22 consists of an opening 30 defined byupper lip 24, lower lip 26 and back wall 28. In the preferred embodimentof the present invention, notch 22 is formed by cutting out a portion offerrule (mid portion) 18 with lip 24 and lower lip 26 being the edges ofthe cut out. Alternatively, notch 22 can be formed by stamping when theferrule is manufactured and before it is attached to handle portion 14.Opening 30 is dimensioned to permit the notch to mount to perimeter 20of the paint can as shown in FIG. 3. Perimeter 20 consists of an innerlip 34 and an outer lip 42. Inner lip 34 forms a U shaped section whichextends inwardly from outer lip 42. Transverse portion 38 extendsbetween inner lip 34 and outer lip 42. Inner lip 34 has top end 36 and abottom elbow 40 immediately adjacent transverse portion 38. In oneembodiment of the present invention, notch 22 is configured such upperlip 24 of the notch is positioned on top of top portion 36 and betweenthe top portion and outer lip 42 while lower lip 26 bears against innerlip 34 at a point on lip 34 between top portion 36 and transverseportion 38. The point of contact between bottom lip 26 and inner lip 34is preferably at elbow 40 or between elbow 40 and top end 36. With lowerlip 26 braced against inner lip 34 and upper lip 24 braced against topend 36 on the opposite side of inner lip 34, notch 20 effectively locksonto the perimeter 20 by virtue of the torque (indicated by arrow B)which is applied to the brush by the weight of the brush. This preventsthe brush from accidentally dislodging from the perimeter because innerlip 34 is effectively pinched between upper lip 24 and lower lip 26.Back wall 28 of notch 20 is spaced from opening 30 by a depth which isselected to ensure that a portion of inner lip 34 will fit inside thenotch. If notch 20 is too shallow (i.e. if the space between opening 30and back wall 28 is too short, then the notch may not secure the paintbrush to the perimeter very securely. Preferably, opening 30 betweenlips 26 and 24 is ⅛th inch and back wall 28 is about 3/16^(th) of aninch from opening 30.

It can be appreciated that a subtle modification of the relativedimensions of lower lip 26, upper lip 24 and the depth of the notch canbe made while not departing from how the notch secures the brush to thepaint can rim. For example, FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of thepresent invention showing a paint brush 60 having a notch 62 with thelower lip 66, and upper lip 64, and back wall 68 and an opening 70between lips 64 and 66. In this embodiment, opening 70 is dimensionedsuch that inner lip 34 fits within the opening. Lower lip 66 isdimensioned and configured such that the lower lip bears against elbow40 while the top end 36 of inner lip 34 is held against upper lip 64. Asin the previous embodiment, the inner lip 34 is pinched between lowerlip 66 and upper lip 64 and the torque acting on brush 60 (indicated byarrow C) being sufficient so that the pinching action is strong enoughto lock the brush onto perimeter.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the notch can be made sufficiently largethat the notch couples the brush to perimeter 20 in the same manner asin the previous two embodiments by spanning the entire perimeter. Inthis embodiment, brush 51 has a mid portion 49 with a notch 44 formedthere on. Notch 44 has an upper lip 46, a lower lip 45 (with a lip end48), an opening 52 and a back wall 50. Opening 52 is sufficiently largethat it can span between outer lip 42 and inner lip 34 or the perimeter.The depth of notch 44 (i.e. the space separating opening 52 from backwall 50) is sufficiently large to permit a portion of inner lip 34 tofit within the notch. Upper lip 46 and lower lip 45 are also dimensionedso that outer lip 42 bears against upper lip 46 and lower lip 45 bearsagainst inner lip 34. As in the previous embodiments, the force ofgravity acting on the brush creates a torque (illustrated by arrow D)which causes notch 44 to pinch the perimeter between upper lip 46 andlower lip 45, thereby securing the brush tightly to the perimeter of thepaint can.

An alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 6 andincludes a standard paint brush 100 having a handle 112, a bristle end116 and a mid portion 114. Attached to mid portion 114 is a clip 118having notch 120 formed thereon. Notch 120 has upper lip 122 and lowerlip 124. Notch 120 is identical to the notches described above, the onlydifference being that instead of being formed on the mid portion itself,notch 120 is formed on clip 118 which is attached to mid portion 114.Clip 118 may be made of injection molded plastic, or aluminum and issecured to mid portion 114 by means known generally in the art such asby adhesive or by fasteners. When clip 118 is secured to brush 100, thebrush can be mounted in a paint can as in the previously describedembodiments.

Another alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7and includes a standard paint brush having a handle portion with a midportion 200 having a notch 210 which is defined by upper lip 212, back214 and lower lip 216. Lower lip 216 is contoured to closely match thecurve of transverse portion 38 of perimeter 20 of the paint can'sopening 19. Transverse portion 38 generally has a curved shape and lowerlip 216 is shaped so that when notch 210 is mounted to the paint canopening 19, lower lip 216 closely conforms to the surface of transverseportion 38 so as to hold inner lip 34 of paint can perimeter 20 firmlybetween upper lip 212 and lower lip 216.

The present invention permits the paint brush to be securely attached tothe lip of the paint can so that the paint brush does not accidentallybecome dislodged. The brush is not simply hanging onto the lip of thepaint can; rather, the lips of the notch effectively pinch the inner lipof the paint can opening such that the force of gravity acting on thebristle portion of the brush is sufficient to effectively lock the paintbrush in place. The pinching action of the lower lip of the notch on theinner lip of the paint can is sufficiently strong that when the paintbrush is mounted to the paint can as shown in FIG. 1, if the paint brushis lifted, the paint can is lifted as well.

A paint brush made in accordance with the present invention has severaladvantages. Firstly, simply mounting the brush on the lip of the paintcan is sufficient to cause the excess paint on the brush to simply dripoff the brush and into the can. Also, the paint brush can be storedtemporarily on the paint can when the user needs to put down the paintbrush in order to do something else. The user can simply unhook thepaint brush from the can in order to start painting again. Also, whilethe paint brush can be mounted to the lip of a paint brush as discussedabove, it will be appreciated that the same brush can also be hung in asimilar fashion to a rack or other mount. For example, a paint brushrack could be made having an elongated U shaped trough having a similarstructure as the lip/rim of a paint can. If this U shaped trough isdimensioned in the same way as the rim of a paint can, then and one ormore brushes could be mounted to the rack as if the rack was a largepaint can.

A specific embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed;however, several variations of the disclosed embodiment could beenvisioned as within the scope of this invention. It is to be understoodthat the present invention is not limited to the embodiments describedabove, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of thefollowing claims.

1. A paint brush for use with a paint can having an openingcircumscribed by a perimeter, said perimeter having a U shaped profilewith an outer rim, a transverse portion and an upwardly extending innerrim having upper and lower ends, said paint brush comprising: a) a midportion connecting a handle to a set of bristles; b) a notch provided ona side of the mid portion between the handle and the set of bristles forattaching the brush to the arc of the can, the notch defined by an upperlip oriented towards the handle, a lower lip oriented towards the set ofbristles and an opening separating the upper and lower lips; c) theopening, upper lip and lower lip being dimensioned such that when thebrush is attached to the perimeter, the perimeter bears against thenotch at a point adjacent the upper lip while the lower lip bearsagainst the inner rim sufficiently to position the brush at an anglefrom the vertical of less than 90°.
 2. A paint brush for use with apaint can having an opening circumscribed by an upwardly extending rimhaving upper and lower ends, said paint brush comprising: a) a ferruleconnecting a handle to a set of bristles; b) a notch formed on a side ofthe ferrule between the handle and the set of bristles, the notchdefined by an upper lip formed on the ferrule towards the handle, alower lip formed on the ferrule towards the set of bristles, an openingseparating the upper and lower lips and a back wall formed on theferrule and separated from the opening by a depth; c) the notch beingdimensioned to permit the paint brush to be hung from the rim of thepaint can by passing the upper end of the rim through the opening, theopening, depth, upper lip and lower lip all being dimensioned to holdthe upper end of the rim within the notch while the lower lip of theferrule bears against the rim at a point on the rim between the upperand lower ends when the paint brush is hung from the rim.
 3. A paintbrush for use with a paint can having an opening circumscribed by anupwardly extending rim having upper and lower ends, said paint brushcomprising: a) a ferrule connecting a handle to a set of bristles; b) anotch formed on a side of the ferrule between the handle and the set ofbristles, the notch defined by an upper lip formed on the ferruletowards the handle, a lower lip formed on the ferrule towards the set ofbristles, an opening separating the upper and lower lips; c) the notchbeing dimensioned to permit the paint brush to be hung from the rim ofthe paint can by passing the upper end of the rim through the opening,the upper lip being angled and dimensioned to hold the upper end of therim within the notch when the paint brush is hung from the rim, theopening being dimensioned to position the lower lip of the ferrule at apoint on the rim between the upper and lower ends when the paint brushis hung from the rim.
 4. The paint brush as defined in claim 1 whereinthe notch is formed on the mid portion of the brush.
 5. The paint brushas defined in claim 1 wherein the notch is formed on a ferrule locatedat the mid point of the brush, the notch further comprising a back wall,the back wall being separated from the opening by a depth, the opening,depth, upper lip and lower lip all being dimensioned to hold the upperend of the rim within the notch while the lower lip of the ferrule bearsagainst the rim at a point on the rim between the upper and lower endswhen the paint brush is hung from the rim.
 6. The paint brush as definedin claim 1 wherein the notch further comprises a back wall, the backwall being separated from the opening by a depth, the opening, depth,upper lip and lower lip all being dimensioned and configured to hold theupper end of the rim within the notch while the lower lip of the ferrulebears against the rim at a point on the rim between the upper and lowerends when the paint brush is hung from the rim.
 7. The paint brush asdefined in claim 1 wherein the notch is formed on a ferrule on the paintbrush and wherein the ferrule further comprises a back wall, the backwall being separated from the opening by a depth, the opening, depth,upper lip and lower lip all being dimensioned and configured to hold theupper end of the rim within the notch while the lower lip of the ferrulebears against the rim at a point on the rim between the upper and lowerends when the paint brush is hung from the rim.
 8. The paint brush asdefined in claim 1 wherein the notch further comprises a back wall, theback wall being separated from the opening by a depth, the opening,depth, upper lip and lower lip all being dimensioned and configured tohold the arc within the notch while the lower lip of the ferrule bearsagainst the rim at a point on the rim between the upper and lower endswhen the paint brush is hung from the rim.
 9. The paint brush as definedin claim 1 wherein the transverse portion of the perimeter has a curvedshape and wherein the lower lip of the notch has a curved shape, thecurved shape of the lower lip closely matching the curved shape of thetransverse portion such that the lower lip can be laid closely againstthe transverse portion.